A home NodeB (Home NodeB, “HNB” for short) can be used to expand coverage of a mobile network and provide more targeted services. An HNB may not belong to a family or an enterprise, and can connect to a network of a mobile operator by using a broadband connection. A terminal that has permission to access an HNB may access, by using an HNB of a third-generation mobile communications technology (3rd-Generation, “3G” for short) or Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, “LTE” for short) system, the network of the mobile operator to acquire a service.
A local network may be further deployed in an enterprise or at home by using an HNB, so that a user equipment (User Equipment, “UE” for short) that accesses the HNB is capable of accessing the local network deployed with the home NodeB, while user data does not need to pass a core network of the operator.
In a current HNB system architecture, a local gateway (local gateway, “LGW” for short) is integrated with an HNB, where the LGW and the HNB have a same address. The HNB that supports local IP (Internet Protocol) access (Local IP Access, “LIPA” for short) is capable of reporting, in an initial UE message, an IP address of the LGW to a serving GPRS support node (Serving GPRS Support Node, “SGSN” for short, where GPRS is short for the general packet radio service (General Packet Radio Service)), and provides a Gi/SGi interface that is used by the LIPA, so as to support associating, by using a related ID (identifier), an internal user plane channel between the LGW and the HNB.
Currently, when inter-HNB handover occurs on a UE, the LGW initiates deactivation of an LIPA bearer, that is, LIPA mobility is not supported. If the deactivation of the LIPA bearer is not initiated before the handover of the UE, a target HNB that does not support the LIPA mobility prepares resources for the LIPA bearer when the UE hands over to the target HNB, thereby causing resource waste.
Therefore, a solution is needed to effectively manage switching of the LIPA bearer, so as to avoid resource waste.